


Curiosity

by spaceacealyx



Category: Original Work
Genre: Awkwardness, First Meetings, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 10:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27968747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceacealyx/pseuds/spaceacealyx
Summary: Lane is particular about the things they like. What do they like? Mainly plants and animals... and one other thing.
Kudos: 1





	Curiosity

**Author's Note:**

> Antoine de Montoire belongs to @iri-lynx on tumblr/ @iri_lynx on insta.

Lane likes animals.

Sam makes sure to ask Lane if they want to come with him to the pet store when they need more pet food. Lane always agrees. Sam finds it adorable when Lane’s face lights up at the sight of small puppies and slithering snakes. Sam leaves them to roam the store by themself as he takes his time grabbing the food and purchasing it. He tries to make small talk with the cashier but he never seems to be in a talkative mood. 

Lane comes up to him and tugs lightly at Sam’s sleeve. 

“Just a moment, Lane. I’m checking out.”

Lane waits patiently and they reach for the bag when the cashier hands it back. 

“Say thank you, Lane.”

Lane does not like talking to people.

They glance at the cashier’s face and freeze like a deer in headlights. After a moment they manage to croak out, “Thank you, Mr. John.” They turn and walk before John responds in any way.

Sam gives Lane a sympathetic smile as they walk away and he nods at John in thanks as well before following Lane.

Lane likes plants.

Sam takes Lane to the library so he can grab some books on the way home. Lane always leaves his side without a word to go to the nonfiction section. Sam knows where to find them when he’s ready to check out. Lane always has a mixture of plant and animal books. They’re large and have very long, descriptive paragraphs about whatever flora or fauna it’s talking about. There are always “big words” in them, so Sam isn’t worried about Lane being slow. Academically at least.

“Are you ready Lane?”

Lane looks up at Sam from the book they’re already devouring. “Yeah.”

Sam smiles at them as they stand up and he asks, “What is this book about?”

Lane mirrors Sam’s smile and excitedly tells him about the book as they walk together to the front of the library to check out their books.

The librarians know them well. One of the older librarians smiles when she sees Sam and Lane. “Hello, Mr. Gabehart. Did you find everything you needed?”

“Yes, I did, thank you.”

As Lane is piling their books onto the counter, the librarian turns her smile to them. “And what about you, Lane? Did you find everything alright?”

Lane nods, still focusing on stacking the books. “I found one on the biology and socialization of certain reptiles. It talks about commensalism with different ecosystems and flora and-” They look up to see the familiar blank look most people get when Lane starts to talk too technically about their interests on the librarian’s face. 

Lane does not like feeling like they’ve said something weird.

They press their lips together in an awkward almost-smile. “I-... Yeah… I found cool books.”

The librarian smiles once again and nods. “That’s very nice, dear.”

Lane gives another awkward smile and nods back before looking down at their feet. “Yep…”

Sam gives them another sympathetic smile and he finishes checking out. “Thank you, Mary. It’s always a pleasure to see you.”

Sam leads the way back to the car while Lane carries the books. It’s a routine they have. It’s nice. Lane looks forward to it every month.

When they get home, Diego is there to ask if they had fun and as always, the answer is yes.

Lane makes a beeline for their room as the dog follows at their heel. They smile and lean down to pet them as they keep walking. “Hey, Bubba. You wanna see the books I got? Huh?? C’mon!”

Sam smiles fondly. Lane may not understand people, but they do have a way with animals.

When dinner is ready, Sam knocks on their door and slowly opens it. “Dinner time, sweetie.” 

Lane is on the floor with Bubba’s head on their knee while they read aloud to the dog. It’s awfully cute. “Okay, Dad. Bubba, are you hungry?”

The dog jumps up, tail thumping against Lane’s bed, and Lane giggles. “C’mon Bubba let’s go get dinner.” 

Bubba barks and dashes out to the kitchen with Lane in tow and the dog stops at their bowl, wagging excitedly at Lane. Lane rubs the top of Bubba’s head before scooping a portion of kibble into the bowl.

The next trip is different though.

Sam ends up not being able to go and asks Lane if they want to stop by the shop by themself. They agree. When Lane walks in, they look around the store as if they’ve never been there before, a small wad of cash clutched stiffly in their hand. 

They go straight toward the pet food and bring it to the register where John is standing. They rigidly hold out the money for him to take. A new voice distracts Lane though. They hear someone cooing at one of the animals and they turn to see who it is. It’s… a new worker? 

Lane is too focused on the new person to notice John trying to take the items out of their hands. “Kid…  _ Kid _ … Hey kid!”

Lane snaps out of it momentarily and they release their grip, muttering a quick, “sorry,” before looking back toward the boy playing with the animals.

John scans the food and holds out Lane’s change to find them looking at his new coworker again and he rolls his eyes. “Excuse me?” No response. “ _ Excuse me _ … Hey, take your money!”

Lane jumps and they look at John with wide eyes then to the money he’s holding out. “Thank you, Mr. John.” They duck their head and leave as quickly as possible after that.

John shakes his head as Lane leaves.  _ “Fucking customers…” _ he thinks. “Hey, Antoine!” 

The boy Lane was watching looks up at the sound of his name. 

“That customer kept staring at you. You know ‘em or somethin?”

Antoine blinks in confusion. “What customer?”

John snorts and drops it.

After that, Sam’s schedule is back to normal. Antoine is also there again that day. Sam notices Lane’s staring almost right away since they follow him instead of going to the animals like they normally do. Sam gives them an encouraging smile and a nudge. “Go talk.”

Lane gives him a nervous look but they start walking forward anyway.

This time, Antoine is playing with a snake. Lane stands next to him and says, “Hi.” They pause and then continue, “I like your hair.”

Antoine blinks up at them and instinctually runs a hand through his hair. “Oh.. Uh… Thanks?”

Lane starts to make the face they usually make when they feel awkward. It makes them almost look like a frog. “You’re welcome…” They look at the snake and smile a little. “Can I pet the snake? I like… I think they’re cute.”

Antoine glances down at the snake. “Oh- uh… yeah sure? Just be gentle.” He holds the snake up to Lane and they lean down a little and stroke the snake’s head with two fingers, a softly excited smile coming to their face.

“Her name is Stacey,” he says quietly. “Well, that's what I call her anyway.”

Lane’s smile widens and they look at Antoine. “I think Stacey suits her. I like it.”

Antoine smiles brighter at that. Lane pets the snake for a few moments longer before Antoine asks, “Do you wanna see a lizard?”

Lane’s eyebrows shoot up. “A lizard? Yes, please!” 

Antoine puts the snake up and brings the lizard over to Lane. “I call this little guy Pablo.” He glances at John while Lane is staring wide-eyed at the reptile. Antoine leans in to whisper in Lane’s ear, which Lane doesn’t notice until he’s talking and they jump a tiny bit before looking at him curiously. From this close, they can see how vibrantly pink his eyes are.

“Pablo really likes John,” he says conspiratorially. 

Lane looks at John. “Maybe he likes loud things,” they whisper back and giggle.

Antoine laughs and pats Pablo on the head. “Yeah, I think he does.”

John notices the two of them staring and he frowns deeply. “Antoine, are you helping the customer or just chatting!?” 

Antoine’s shoulders jump a little and he straightens. “Helping!” He quickly spins away from John and glances at Lane, who is snickering quietly at the interaction. “So… uh… did you need any help?”

Lane gives him a blank look. "Uhh... My dad- I don't- um..." they furrow their eyebrows for a second while they think of what to say. Antoine raises an eyebrow at their stuttering. He thinks about interrupting them. 

"I don't really...? I just came with my dad... to buy... food..." Just as quickly as the question catches them off guard, they perk up as they think of something and change the subject as if they hadn’t been talking about something completely different. “Did you name any of the other animals? Can I hold Pablo?”

Antoine smiles again at their question. “Oh yeah, I’ve named pretty much all of them.” Antoine’s face turns a little unsure. “Ah… Well, I’m not supposed to let customers hold them…”

“Oh okay.” Lane shrugs. They look around at the other animals and light up, looking toward Antoine excitedly. “What about this one? What did you name him?”

Antoine happily introduces Lane to almost all the animals. Antoine had put Pablo back and was taking Stacey out again when Sam comes over and clears his throat. “Lane, sweetheart, it’s time to go.”

They blink at Sam, looking almost confused. “Oh. Okay…” Then they look to Antoine with the same nervous look they usually give people. “Okay gotta go bye.” Lane starts to walk away but they turn and wave at Antoine with a big smile. They almost nearly run into the doorway. 

Sam smiles softly. He’s never seen Lane take this much of an interest in another person before.

Antoine waves with Stacey on his hand and begins to walk over to the register where John is.

John raises his eyebrows at him. “Made a new friend?”

Antoine simply shrugs and holds the snake out for John to pet, which makes John simply roll his eyes.

On the ride home, Lane very excitedly tells Sam about what they talked to Antoine about. “And he has pink eyes, Dad.  _ Pink _ . Do you know how biologically-” they fumble for a word. “ _ Impossible _ that is? It’s  _ so _ cool and he’s so nice to all the animals. He named all of them!”

Sam keeps a smile on his face as he lets Lane ramble. Hopefully, Antoine will work there for a while longer.

Because Lane likes Antoine.


End file.
